Kate Nielsen

Kate Nielsen is a muralist, painter, and public artist based in southeastern Massachusetts, near Providence, Rhode Island. She creates bold, colorful public art, murals, and painted environments inspired by nature, wildlife, plants, and the communities where her work lives.

Her public art and mural commissions include To The Birds, a nature-themed mural painted on a steel shipping container for NYCH2O at the Ridgewood Reservoir in Queens, NY, inspired by the rewilding of the reservoir; Hypnotize, a 12.5′ x 33.5′ outdoor mural commissioned by Amazon Music to celebrate the Notorious B.I.G.’s 50th birthday; hand-painted signage throughout Flatbush Caton Market, New York’s oldest public Caribbean flea market; and interior murals for restaurants, businesses, and private homes, including a mural that spirals up three stories of a brownstone stairwell. She has been a finalist for public mural open calls in Brooklyn, including the Friends of Greenpoint Library mural.

Kate’s studio painting practice builds layers of paint, then cuts, peels, and reassembles them into abstract works that suggest geological layers, microscopic life, and imagined landscapes. Her 2026 solo exhibition, Qualia, was shown at Lindquist Object in Brooklyn. She has also exhibited with Calico Gallery, Strohl Art Center, World’s Fair Gallery in Providence, and the Museum of Art and Design.

She holds a BFA from Rhode Island School of Design (RISD). She began her public art career as a senior apprentice with YouthArtWorks, working on a 20′ x 80′ mural, a granite sculpture, and an etched map. She also has experience in fabrication painting, finishing, and material testing. She is now expanding into permanent, three-dimensional public art, including functional artwork, seating, and fabricated metal.

Kate is available for public art commissions, community murals, school and youth engagement, placemaking projects, site-specific artwork, sign painting, and commercial and residential murals throughout Massachusetts, Rhode Island, and New England.